"Look at all those Disney princesses with their big heads and tiny waists, all waiting to be rescued from their lives by men. That's not the kind of role model I want for my girls."

She went on to reveal that she tries to keep away from roles that aren't realists, admitting that her current New Tricks character DCI Sasha Miller is just that.

"I'm too old to play a model. So I've stopped worrying about it, which makes me feel much freer.

"We're very used, by now, to seeing female bosses on the telly. Prime Suspect really kicked that off back in the '90s. But there has been a tendency to see women as either ballbreakers or victims, and there are lots of degrees in between," she added to the magazine.

She says Disney's princesses are way too unrealistic for young, impressionable girls [DISNEY]

She blasted the movie giant for starting girls' obsession with their bodies [DISNEY]

"Look at all those Disney princesses with their big heads and tiny waists, all waiting to be rescued from their lives by men. That's not the kind of role model I want for my girls."

"I'm not trying to make Sasha a ballbreaker. I'm trying to make it OK for her to be vulnerable, for her not to have all the answers. She's feeling her way and so am I."

The former Hotel Babylon actress, who divorced her Miranda star husband Tom Ellis earlier this year after seven years of marriage, said: "I have never relied on anyone financially except for myself."

She added: "I could never have been a full-time stay-at-home mum, reliant on a man. I love hanging out with the kids and I love my job. And I'm hugely fortunate that I don't have to choose between the two."

She added: "I'm completely content with what I have in my life, both inside and out. It's a lovely place to be."